System and methods for operating a casino loyalty computer system to display images of non-fungible tokens associated with blockchain transactions on gaming devices

ABSTRACT

A networked computer system for displaying images associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on electronic gaming machines (EGMs) is described herein. The networked computer system includes a computer server coupled to a plurality of EGMs located within a casino property. The computer server includes a processor programmed to execute an algorithm to display an animated sequence of computer-generated images on a display device of a corresponding EGM including the steps of querying a blockchain system to identify a casino charm NFT owned by a casino patron, querying a charms content database to retrieve image data associated with the identified casino charm NFT, and rendering an image of the identified casino charm NFT on a game screen displayed on the corresponding EGM.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 63/248,972 filed Sep. 27, 2021, the disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention relates to networked computer systems for casinoproperty management systems, and more particularly, to systems, methods,and computer-readable storage media to operate casino loyalty programcomputer system to display animated images associated with non-fungibletokens recorded on blockchain systems on gaming devices and modify theoperation of gaming machines, including paytables and/or return toplayer, based on non-fungible tokens.

BACKGROUND

As the increasingly globalized society accelerates its waves of newtechnology and innovation, the gaming industry has been impacted by twoinversely related trends. Most significantly the technological advancesin gaming, while greatly enhancing operational efficiencies, have had aprofoundly negative impact on the value proposition of the casinoexperience for guests. As this casino experience value propositioncontinues to degrade, the number of competitors striving for a stake ofguests' wallets is constantly multiplying, as is their ease of accessinto those wallets. As a result, the efficacy of casino loyalty programsdiminish over time, yet continues to utilize overplayed tactics that areubiquitous within the gaming industry.

The present invention is aimed at one or more of the problems identifiedabove.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a networked computer system fordisplaying images associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) onelectronic gaming machines (EGMs) is provided. The networked computersystem includes a computer server coupled to a plurality of EGMs locatedwithin a casino property. The computer server includes a processorprogrammed to execute an algorithm to display an animated sequence ofcomputer-generated images on a display device of a corresponding EGMincluding the steps of receiving a request to initiate a gaming sessionat the corresponding EGM including a patron ID and querying a patronaccount database to determine a blockchain user account ID associatedwith the received patron ID. The processor then executes the algorithmincluding the steps of querying a blockchain system to identify a casinocharm NFT owned by the blockchain user account ID, querying a charmscontent database to retrieve image data associated with the identifiedcasino charm NFT, and rendering an image of the identified casino charmNFT on a game screen displayed on the corresponding EGM.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of operating anetworked computer system for displaying images associated with NFTs onEGMs is provided. The networked computer system includes a computerserver including a processor coupled to a plurality of EGMs locatedwithin a casino property. The method includes the processor performingan algorithm to display an animated sequence of computer-generatedimages on a display device of a corresponding EGM including the steps ofreceiving a request to initiate a gaming session at the correspondingEGM, the request including a patron ID and querying a patron accountdatabase to determine a blockchain user account ID associated with thereceived patron ID. The processor then executes the algorithm includingthe steps of querying a blockchain system to identify a casino charm NFTowned by the blockchain user account ID, querying a charms contentdatabase to retrieve image data associated with the identified casinocharm NFT, and rendering an image of the identified casino charm NFT ona game screen displayed on the corresponding EGM.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, one or morenon-transitory computer-readable storage media, havingcomputer-executable instructions embodied thereon to operate a networkedcomputer system for displaying images associated with NFTs on EGMs isprovided. The networked computer system includes a computer serverincluding a processor coupled to a plurality of EGMs located within acasino property. The computer-executable instructions cause theprocessor to perform an algorithm to display an animated sequence ofcomputer-generated images on a display device of a corresponding EGMincluding the steps of receiving a request to initiate a gaming sessionat the corresponding EGM, the request including a patron ID and queryinga patron account database to determine a blockchain user account IDassociated with the received patron ID. The processor then executes thealgorithm including the steps of querying a blockchain system toidentify a casino charm NFT owned by the blockchain user account ID,querying a charms content database to retrieve image data associatedwith the identified casino charm NFT, and rendering an image of theidentified casino charm NFT on a game screen displayed on thecorresponding EGM.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present invention aredescribed with reference to the following figures. Other advantages ofthe present disclosure will be readily appreciated, as the same becomesbetter understood by reference to the following detailed descriptionwhen considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating various aspects of a networkedcomputer system for displaying images associated with non-fungibletokens (NFTs) on gaming devices located within casino properties,according to the present invention;

FIGS. 2-7 are schematic diagrams of a customer loyalty program computersystem that may be used with the system shown in FIG. 1 , according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8-12 are flowcharts illustrating the algorithms executed by thecustomer loyalty program computer system for displaying imagesassociated with NFTs on gaming devices located within casino properties,according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 13-16 are illustrations of exemplary data files generated by thenetworked computer system, according to embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 17-19 are illustrations of exemplary user interface screens thatmay be displayed by customer loyalty program computer system on gamingdevices, according to embodiments of the present invention:

FIG. 20 is another schematic diagram of networked computer system shownin FIG. 1 for displaying images associated with NFTs on gaming deviceslocated within casino properties, according to embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an algorithm executed by thecustomer loyalty program computer system for displaying imagesassociated with NFTs on gaming devices located within casino properties,according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 22-26 are illustrations of exemplary data files generated by thecustomer loyalty program computer system, according to embodiments ofthe present invention; and

FIGS. 27-40 are illustrations of exemplary animated sequences ofcomputer-generated images displayed on graphic user interface screensthat may be displayed by customer loyalty program computer system ongaming devices, according to embodiments of the present invention.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding componentsthroughout the several views of the drawings. Skilled artisans willappreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicityand clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example,the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggeratedrelative to other elements to help to improve understanding of variousembodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understoodelements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasibleembodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a lessobstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to the FIGS. and in operation, the present inventionprovides a networked computer system, methods and computer product mediathat monitors the activities of casino patrons within multiple physicalcasino properties, generates non-fungible tokens (NFT) associated withdigital computer-generated images of unique charms to be displayed ongaming devices, modifies the operation of gaming machines, includingpaytables and/or return to player, based on selected NFT, andfacilitates the purchase and sale of the NFTs using a blockchain ledgersystem.

The system uses Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) leveraging Blockchaintechnology to be used in conjunction with Station Casinos' LoyaltyProgram (Boarding Pass). These NFTs can be accessed by the patron (oncethey insert their Boarding Pass loyalty card) at a slot machine throughthe display devices (service window or TFT display) and an individualNFT can be selected to display a preview image, which is a graphicalrepresentation of the NFT, on the slot machine's banner located on theslot machine video monitor. This preview image displayed on the bannerrepresents a lucky charm for the player as they play the game.

In an effort to combat these trends and enhance current CustomerRelationship Management (CRM) systems, the present invention includes acustomer loyalty program computer system programmed to implement an STNCharms™ program offered by Station Casinos™ that draws upon theachievement based foundation of Social Gaming and applies it to GamingLoyalty Programs to reinvent and add value to the casino experiencevalue proposition, drive incremental trips, cater to both traditionaland new guests, while removing access barriers to guests. As symbols ofguests' achievements as they progress advance levels and completequests, they will be rewarded with various themed Non-Fungible Tokens(NFTs), called “Charms”, which will utilize blockchain technology. Bystrategically setting scarcity standards for these Charms, guests willassociate various Charms as status symbols and utilize a Charm Market tobuy and sell Charms with other guests and/or casino properties.

Blockchain Overview: A blockchain is a database formed by a sequence ofentries called blocks. Blockchains have a special characteristic bywhich any attempt to modify one of its entries would modify the entirechain. It is, therefore, an immutable data structure, which storesblocks in chronological order of insertion. This makes blockchain aperfect storage medium for financial records which need to be audited(such as a Bitcoin transaction). Each entry in a blockchain is called ablock, which is a data structure that contains a header and a payload.Every blockchain header must have a field that points to the blockbefore. The link from every block to the block before forms the chain ofblocks. These blocks are recorded in chronological order and this ordercannot be modified. Therefore, blockchains prove not only that data isvalid, but also at which point in time that data was inserted. For thisreason, blockchains can be used as “proof of knowledge” of information.

NFT Overview: NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are blockchain-based tokensthat each represent a unique asset like a piece of art, digital content,or media. NFTs typically exist on a distributed blockchain ledger systemsuch as, for example, Ethereum™ blockchain, IBM Blockchain™, Tezos™,Stellar™, and the like. Unlike a dollar bill, an NFT cannot be swappedfor another similar NFT and inherently have the same value (such astrading a $5 bill for another $5 bill). Utilizing the same ‘proof ofknowledge’ mentioned in the blockchain overview, NFT's are a method ofdocumenting ‘proof of ownership’. Ownership has been defined loosely asNFT's have been made for art, videos, GIFs, tweets, and much more, butin reality one can make an NFT for just about anything. It is importantto note that once a batch of NFT's is created, that batch cannot beedited or increased in the future. If one were to make 100 NFT's oftheir coffee cup, once minted there will only be 100 in perpetuity(although this does not prohibit that creator from making another 100very similar NFT's). Another key feature of NFT's is that there isusually a royalty fee attached to them upon creation (determined by thecreator). When an NFT transaction occurs, the buyer of the NFT ends uppaying the royalty fee on top of the base price. This royalty fee isincurred every time the NFT is bought/sold and goes to the creator.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an exemplary environment in which the networkedcomputer system 10 operates is illustrated. In general, the presentinvention describes a networked computer system 10 for use in operatinga customer loyalty program that generates NFT Charms that may be awardedto patrons. The system 10 interacts with a blockchain ledger system torecord NFT Charm transactions associated with NFT Charm creation, NFTCharm ownership, and NFT Charm transactions.

In the illustrated embodiment, the system 10 includes a customer loyaltyprogram computer system 12 that is coupled in communication with acasino management system server 14 and a plurality of player trackingservers 16 located at a plurality of casino property locations 18. Thecustomer loyalty program computer system 12 communicates with the casinomanagement system server 14 and the player tracking servers 16 andexecutes algorithms to implement the STN Charms™ program. Each playertracking server 16 is coupled in communication with a plurality ofgaming devices 20 that are located at a corresponding casino property 18and are accessible by casino patrons to purchase goods and servicesprovided by the casino property. Each server may include one or moreserver computers that each include a processing device that includes aprocessor that is coupled to a memory device. The processing deviceexecutes various programs, and thereby controls components of the serveraccording to user instructions received from the gaming devices 20and/or other servers. The processing device may include memory, e.g.,read only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM), storingprocessor-executable instructions and one or more processors thatexecute the processor-executable instructions.

In the illustrated embodiment, the plurality of gaming devices 20includes kiosks 22, electronic gaming machines (EGM) 24, a point-of-sale(POS) terminals 26, electronic table games and/or table game displaysystems 27, and user/patron computing devices 28. The player trackingservers 16 monitor the purchases and activities of patrons and transmitsthe information to the customer loyalty program computer system 12and/or the casino management system server 14. The casino managementsystem server 14 generates and maintains patron account recordsassociated with each patron that includes information associated withthe purchase and activities of patrons being monitored by the playertracking servers 16, which are then used to award promotional pointsand/or NFT Charms to patrons that may be used to purchase additionalgoods and services and/or NFT Charms from the casino properties. Forexample, the player tracking servers 16 are configured to trackingpatrons wagering activity and game play on electronic gaming machines,table games and other gaming revenue areas such as, bingo, keno, andsports wagering. In addition, the player tracking servers 16 areconfigured to monitor patron purchases of casino property services suchas restaurant, spa services, merchandise, hotel rooms, and amenityservices through non-gaming revenue POS terminals 26 and/or kiosks 22.

Moreover, the player tracking servers 16 may be configured to monitorpatron purchases and activities accessed using user computer softwareapplications such as mobile software applications executed on mobilecomputing devices and/or websites. In some embodiments, the playertracking servers 16 and/or the casino management system server 14identifies patrons using patron tracking ID cards and/or a patronidentification numbers (PIN) that are linked to the patron accountrecords 30. The casino management system server 14 tracks the patron'sgaming play and may award patron tracking points, bonuses, and otherincentives according to established criteria to promote continued patronloyalty. For example, in one embodiment, the casino management systemserver 14 may be configured to implement the myBoardingPass™ playerrewards program offered by Station Casinos™.

The gaming devices 20, casino management system server 14, playertracking servers 16, and customer loyalty program computer system 12communicate via a communications network 32. The communications network32 may be any suitable connection, including the Internet, file transferprotocol (FTP), an Intranet, LAN, a virtual private network (VPN),cellular networks, etc. . . . , and may utilize any suitable orcombination of technologies including, but not limited to, wired andwireless connections, always on connections, connections madeperiodically, and connections made as needed.

In the illustrated embodiment, each user/patron computing device 28includes a display device and a processing device that includes aprocessor that is coupled to a memory device. The processing deviceexecutes various programs, and thereby controls components of thecomputing device according to user instructions received by the user toenable the user to access and communicate with the system 10 includingsending and/or receiving information to and from the system 10 anddisplaying information received from the system 10 to the user.

For example, in some embodiments, the user computing device 28 mayinclude, but is not limited to, a desktop computer, a laptop or notebookcomputer, a tablet computer, smartphone/tablet computer hybrid, apersonal data assistant, a handheld mobile device including a cellulartelephone, and the like. In addition, the user computing device 28 mayinclude a touchscreen that operates as the display device and the userinput device. In the illustrated embodiment, the user computing device28 includes a web-browser program that is stored in the memory device.When executed by the processor of the user computing device, theweb-browser program enables the user computing device to receivesoftware code from the system 10 including, but not limited to, HTML,JavaScript, and/or any suitable programming code that enables the usercomputing device to generate and display a website and/or webpages onthe display device of the user computing device.

Similarly, kiosks 22 may include a touchscreen display and processor forexecuting web-browser programs to receive software code from the system10 and display a website and/or webpages on the touchscreen display. Inaddition, the kiosks 22 may also include a card reader device forobtaining patron ID's stored on the physical patron tracking ID cards.

In one embodiment, the user computing device 28 may include a mobilecomputing device such as, for example, a tablet computer, asmartphone/tablet computer hybrid, a smartphone such as an iPhone™,Samsung Galaxy™, and the like. The mobile computing device includes aprocessor coupled to a memory device for storing various programs anddata for use in operating the mobile computing device. The mobilecomputing device may also include a touchscreen display unit, one ormore video image cameras, one or more speakers, a microphone, at leastone input button, and one or more sensors including, but not limited to,a touch ID fingerprint sensor coupled to an input button, a barometer, athree-axis gyro, an accelerometer, proximity sensor, and an ambientlight sensor. In addition, the mobile computing device may also includea Wi-Fi antenna, a cellular network antenna, a Bluetooth™ communicationsdevice, assisted GPS and GLONASS, a digital compass, and an iBeacon™microlocation device. The mobile computing device may be programmed tostore and execute mobile computer program applications that displaygraphical user interfaces on the touchscreen display unit that allowsthe user to access the system 10 to retrieve and store informationwithin the system 10 as well as interact with and operate the system 10.For example, the system 10 may be configured to implement a mobileapplication such as, for example, the “STN™” mobile application offeredby Station Casinos™ available in Apple iOS™, Google Android™, and AmazonKindle™ operating platforms, or on social-media websites such asFacebook™.

In some embodiments, the POS terminal 26 includes a computer processor,a monitor (e.g., a cashier-facing monitor), one or more input devices(e.g., scanners, keyboards, scales, or the like), one or more paymentdevices (e.g., cash drawers, card readers) for receiving or returningpayments, one or more output devices (e.g., customer-facing displaymonitor, receipt printer), or the like or combinations orsub-combinations thereof, and a near field communication (NFC) device,such as, for example, an NFC dongle. The input devices and paymentdevices can feed data and commands to computer processor for processingor implementation. For example, a barcode scanner can pass datacommunicating the identity of one or more items to be purchased,returned, or the like to a computer processor. Similarly, a card readercan pass payment information and/or patron ID information to thecomputer processor. Similarly, customer-facing display and receiptprinter can display or output data or information as instructed by thecomputer processor.

The electronic gaming machine (EGM) 24 includes a gaming cabinet thathouses a display device and a gaming controller that includes one ormore gaming computer processors for generating and displaying aplurality of games on the display device. The display device of the EGMmay include a touchscreen display. The gaming computer processorexecutes a wagering game program that uses a random number generator torandomly generate outcomes of the games, which allows a player to make awager, play a game, and potentially provide the player an award based onan outcome of the game and a paytable. For example, in some embodiments,the EGM 24 executes a video slot machine that executes a game includinga plurality of video reels displaying game symbols. The EGM 24 may alsoexecute any type of game including, but not limited to, a video slotgame, a keno game, a blackjack game, a video poker game, or any type ofgame which allows a player to make a wager and potentially provide theplayer an award.

In some embodiments, the EGM 24 includes a user input device thatincludes a plurality of input buttons and an acceptor device thatincludes a coin slot and/or a bill acceptor. The acceptor deviceincludes an input and output device that is configured to accept a bill,a ticket, and/or a cash card into the acceptor device to enable anamount of gaming credits associated with a monetary value of the bills,ticket, and/or cash card to be credited to the gaming device. Forexample, the acceptor device may utilize a cashless wagering system (notshown), such as a ticket in ticket out (TITO) system (not shown). TheEGM 24 may also include a player tracking device that communicates withthe player tracking server 16. The player tracking device includes aplayer identification card reader and a display. The playeridentification card reader is configured to accept a player tracking IDcard inserted by the player, and read information contained on theplayer tracking card to identify the player account information. Theplayer identification card reader may include, but is not limited to, abarcode reader, a magnetic card reader, and/or a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) card reader. The display device may include atouchscreen panel that includes a keypad to allow the player to enter aunique PIN that is used by the player tracking server 16 to identify thepatron and the corresponding patron tracking account. The playertracking device is configured to communicate player account informationand gaming activity between the player tracking server 16 and the EGMgaming controller. For example, the player tracking device may be usedto track bonus points and/or credits awarded to the player during agaming session and/or track bonus and/or credits downloaded to the EGM24 from the player tracking server 16.

FIGS. 2-7 are schematic diagrams illustrating example components of thecustomer loyalty program computer system 12. FIGS. 8-12 illustrate thealgorithms 200-600 executed by the customer loyalty program computersystem 12. The algorithms include a plurality of steps. Each algorithmstep may be performed independently of, or in combination with, othermethod steps. Portions of the algorithms may be performed by any one of,or any combination of, the components of the system 10. The customerloyalty program computer system 12 includes one or more processors thatare programmed to execute the algorithms shown in FIGS. 8-12 anddescribed herein.

In the illustrated embodiment, the customer loyalty program computersystem 12 communicates with a distributed blockchain ledger networksystem 34 to implement the STN Charms™ program. The distributedblockchain ledger network system 34 may include, for example, Ethereum™blockchain, IBM Blockchain™, Tezos™, Stellar™, and/or any suitabledistributed blockchain ledger system that support NFT deployment. TheSTN Charms program seeks to enhance the customer loyalty program usingcharms that are awarded to loyalty members for various purposes. Loyaltymembers will receive benefits based on the charms that they possess andcan continue to earn more charms. The charms program is designed so thatcharms have scarcity that set or increase their value over time. Memberswill also be able to sell and/or buy casino charm NFTs in an onlinemarketplace, with Station Casinos earning royalties on transactions.

The STN Charms program is implemented using Blockchain technology.Casino charm NFTs 36 (shown in FIGS. 13-16 ) are modeled as non-fungibletokens (NFTs) that are registered with the blockchain. The customerloyalty program computer system 12 is programmed to mint new charms andaward them to members through the blockchain. Transactions involving thecharms will also occur using the blockchain. Using blockchain technologyto implement STN Charms program brings trust and verifiability to theSTN Charms program allowing the customer loyalty program computer system12 to verify ownership of charms when members receive benefits andproviding an audit trail for review.

One mechanism that charms will be awarded to customers is through theaccumulation of points. Some channels through which points may beaccumulated by members include gaming at a casino, staying at a hotel,or dining in a restaurant. The accumulation of points may be tracked inthe blockchain for each member. As the member earns new points, they maycross a level threshold which will automatically award the member a newcharm. Point acquisition are recorded in the blockchain.

Members may also earn charms through the completion of quests. A questis a challenge with an associated goal that is set by the customerloyalty program computer system 12. Members may voluntarily accept aquest and progress through the quest towards achieving the goal. Whenthe goal is achieved, then the desired charms is awarded to them. Questachievements and rewards are recorded in the blockchain.

The customer loyalty program computer system 12 implements the STNCharms program using a dApp using the blockchain system 34, data storedin the blockchain, and data stored outside of the blockchain.

The STN Charms program includes two primary actors: Casino Operator 40(e.g., Station Casinos) and Loyalty Members 42 (e.g., casino propertyguest).

Station Casinos Actor: The Station Casinos actor includes one or moreapproved administrators that represent the interests of Station Casinosand who are authorized to mint and assign charms to Loyalty Members. Theactions that Station Casinos can perform includes: Minting new charms toaward to Loyalty Members or to be sold in the Marketplace (shown inFIGS. 35-40 ); Configuring achievement levels and the charms to beawarded when the Loyalty Member earns enough points; Creating queststhat the Loyalty Member can perform and defining the charm that will beawarded to members that complete the quest; and Leveling-up charmsand/or increasing a charm luck level; providing a charms shopmarketplace to purchase and/or sell NFT charms; and providing additionalNFT charms (e.g., charm drops at predefined intervals, e.g., monthly,weekly, daily, etc.) for purchase via the charms marketplace.

Loyalty Member Actor: A Loyalty Member is a customer of Station Casinosthat enrolls in the STN Charms program. The Loyalty Member is a frequentcustomer who wishes to engage with Station Casinos in a richer way andreceive benefits from the customer relationship. The Loyalty Member willearn charms by spending time and money in the casino, eating at arestaurant, staying at the hotel, or through other activities. TheLoyalty Member is also interested in purchasing new charms to unlockcasino benefits or buying and/or selling charms with other members inthe Marketplace (shown in FIGS. 35-40 ).

Architecture Overview: The customer loyalty program computer system 12is programmed to implement the STN Charms program using blockchaintechnology provided by the blockchain system 34 such as, for example,Ethereum™ blockchain, IBM Blockchain™, Tezos™, Stellar™, and the like.For example, Ethereum™ is a blockchain network fueled by acryptocurrency named ETH. The blockchain system 34 is a shared,immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactionsand tracking assets in a business network. An asset can be tangible (ahouse, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents,copyrights, branding). The blockchain system 34 includes distributedledger technology in which all network participants have access to thedistributed ledger and its immutable record of transactions. Theblockchain system 34 includes a blockchain ledger 44 (shown in FIG. 12 )of immutable records in which no participant can change or tamper with atransaction after it's been recorded to the shared ledger. Theblockchain 44 acts as a log or ledger of transactions between parties.The blockchain 44, and Ethereum, are decentralized, meaning that thereis no single source of failure. The blockchain is implemented bymultiple distributed nodes that each control a complete and accuratecopy of the ledger at all times. When transactions are added to theblockchain, all of the nodes in the blockchain agree on where in theledger the transaction will be recorded using a consensus algorithm.

The STN Charms program is implemented using Smart Contract technologyfollowing standards established for non-fungible tokens. STN Charms mayimplement the ERC-721 standard, the ERC1155 multi token standard, and/orany suitable standard for deployment of non-fungible token types. Forexample, existing standards such as ERC-20 require deployment ofseparate contracts per token type; the ERC-721 standard's token ID is asingle non-fungible index and the group of these non-fungibles isdeployed as a single contract with settings for the entire collection;and the ERC-1155 Multi Token Standard allows for each token ID torepresent a new configurable token type, which may have its ownmetadata, supply and other attributes. In one embodiment, the ERC-721defines a standard contract for representing and transactingnon-fungible tokens. STN Charms may specialize its implementation ofERC-721 for the purpose of issuing, managing, verifying, and performingtransactions on charms.

The STN Charms smart contract 46 implements the API through which charmsare created and managed. The STN Charms smart contract is deployed tothe blockchain system 34. All interactions with the STN Charms smartcontract 46 are recorded in the blockchain and are part of the publicblockchain record where the transactions can be reviewed or audited byall parties. For example, as shown in FIG. 12 , the STN Charms smartcontract 46 may mint a plurality of casino charm NFTs that are deployedto the blockchain ledger 44 including transition records indicating eachcasino charm NFTs as originally minted and/or owned by a casino gamingentity such as, for example, Station Casinos™ (shown as “STN” in FIG. 12). In some embodiments, the blockchain ledger 44 may include uniquecharm NFT IDs (shown as “Charm1NFT”, “Charm2NFT”, “Charm3NFT”, etc.)associated with each minted casino charm NFTs.

Application Architecture: Loyalty Member-facing applications are builtto interact with the STN Charms smart contract (see FIG. 4 ). Anadministration application 48 is used by the Station Casinos actor tomint and award new charms to Loyalty Members. A Marketplace applicationis used to allow Loyalty Members to buy new charms from Station Casinosor other members and/or to sell charms that they own with other members.As the Loyalty Members play games or make use of other services providedby Station Casinos, other systems will use the STN Charms smart contractto award members.

Loyalty Members/Patrons may enroll in the program using a membershipapplication 52 (e.g., a website, mobile application, mobile website,etc.). This application will be where Loyalty Members can come to managetheir membership information and update it if necessary. Members areable to view the charms that they have received using informationavailable from the blockchain. Loyalty Members will enroll into the STNCharms program using the membership application.

A marketplace application is created to allow members to buy and/or sellcasino charm NFTs. Charms may be advertised on the marketplace forpurchase either by Station Casinos or other members. All transactionsmade through the marketplace are recorded in the blockchain 44.

The marketplace and loyalty member application will make use ofthird-party wallet software 54 to connect to the blockchain and interactwith the STN Charms smart contract to allow users to store and managecasino charm NFTs. In some embodiments, the wallet software 54 mayimplement a custodial wallet that is owned and maintained by a casinogaming entity for storing ownership information associated with casinocharm NFTs. The use of a custodial wallets allows patrons tobuy/sell/receive casino charm NFTs without using a personal cryptowallet. In other embodiments, ownership information associated withcasino charm NFTs may be held in individual wallets.

Service Window Architecture: In order to support displaying charminformation on the service window 56 of gaming machines 24 (shown inFIGS. 17 and 27-30 ), a server-based web application 58 is created anddeployed to serve HTML content to the service window. The serverapplication will provide read-only query access to the blockchain toquery charms awarded or points earned by the Loyalty Member. Theinformation will also be used to query for detailed content about charmsfrom a charm content database 60 using the STN Charms API 62. Images orother multimedia content (shown in FIGS. 13-16 and 31-33 ) aredownloaded from the charm content database 60 over HTTPS throughhyperlink URLs returned by the STN Charms API.

The Service Window Server 58 will authenticate to the blockchain using alimited account that supports read-only access, but not execution oftransactions. The account will not have any assets of its own and willhave limited funds if necessary for performing the query operationsagainst the STN Charms service contract.

This architecture assumes that the Loyalty Member has been authenticatedand can be identified using an external mechanism. For example, in someembodiments, the Loyalty Member's identifying information may beinjected into the Service Window Server and UI using a mechanism such asa query string parameter when the Service Window initiates the requestto the Service Window Server for the content to display in the window.

STN Charms Smart Contract: The STN Charms smart contract implements thebackend for the blockchain solution. The smart contract implementsoperations that record transactions in the blockchain. Transactionsinclude minting charms; awarding charms to members; and/or buying orselling charms.

The STN Charms smart contract is based on the ERC-721 standard fornon-fungible tokens1. ERC-721 provides the basic functions for use bythe marketplace to transfer ownership of charms as part of buying,selling, trading, or gifting operations. The STN Charms smart contractenhances ERC-721 to add additional options of awarding members pointsand minting new charms. In other embodiments, the STN Charms smartcontract may implement the ERC1155 multi token standard, and/or anysuitable standard for deployment of non-fungible token types.

Authentication with the STN Charms smart contract occurs using standardpublic key cryptographic technology. In one embodiment, both StationCasinos and Loyalty Members will have unique accounts (e. g. wallets) onthe blockchain with associated private keys that are used to digitallysign requests sent to the smart contract. When interacting with theblockchain through a web application such as the marketplace, users maybe required to have an acceptable third-party wallet applicationinstalled that provides an API for the web application to communicatewith the blockchain on behalf of the Loyalty Member. In otherembodiments, the system 10 may use a custodial wallet owned by thecasino entity that may be used to facilitate transactions associatedwith NFTs on the blockchain system 34.

STN Charms API: The STN Charms API is used to manage charms-relatedcontent and other off-chain data for the STN Charms program. The STNCharms API is implemented as a REST API over the HTTP protocol. The STNCharms API is intended to augment and complete the STN Charms SmartContract by storing and retrieving information that is not necessary tobe persisted in the blockchain.

The primary responsibilities for the STN Charms API are: Serve data,images, and other media about charms to be displayed in clientapplications; Store marketplace data including which charms are forsale; and Store other Loyalty Member information not included inblockchain or CRM.

Authentication and authorization at the API level are performed throughJSON Web Tokens (JWTs) that are issued by an (undetermined)authentication service supporting the OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connectprotocols. The authentication service should have a trust relationshipwith the STN Charms solution. The actual method of authenticating usersis not specified in this document.

The STN Charms API should be considered secondary to the Smart Contract.The information stored in the blockchain ledger is the system of record.The information that is available through the STN Charms API issupplementary. For example, a charm is referenced by an ID that iscreated and managed through a blockchain transaction. The STN Charms APIstores content about the charm that is intended for user consumption,but the data does not have its own identity apart from the blockchainrepresentation of the charm.

Operations available from the STN Charms API include: downloadingdescriptions, logos, images, or links to videos related to charms thatare awarded to users; the list of charms that are being offered for salein the marketplace and at what price the charms are being offered forsale; additional profile information about a Loyalty Member that is keptin neither the blockchain nor CRM service; the list of levels and howmany points are required to achieve each level; metadata about questsincluding content that should be presented to the Loyalty Member to helpthem to complete the quest.

Referring to FIGS. 13-16 and 31-33 , in some embodiments, the system 12is programmed to generate a plurality of casino charm NFTs 36. Eachcasino charm NFT 36 may be associated with one or more Charm Categories.

Property Charms: Property charms would be given as a reward for loyaltyand play at a certain property, with companywide play earning Stations'charms.

Sports Charms: Sports charms would be earned via special events and byplaying at casino properties on the team's gameday.

Gametypes Charms: Gametype charms are earned by earning differentthresholds of experience on a certain gametype.

Cultural Charms: Cultural charms are earned through purchasing or byplaying on certain ‘Charm Days’, such as St. Patrick's Day for a specialshamrock charm.

Topical Charms: Topical charms range from a popular TV character to apint of beer. These are typically earned as prizes by levelling up or bypurchasing from the charm shop.

Quest/Achievement Charms: Charms earned from questing are the result ofcompleting certain tasks and missions. These can vary from a certainnumber of visits, hitting a certain type of bet, playing variousgametypes, etc. In the examples discussed herein, the first charm wouldbe for playing a certain amount of times in a time frame and the secondwould be a charm earned for hitting various quantities of Royal Flushes.

Popular Game Theme Charms: These charms would be earned by playing acertain theme—such as Buffalo or Lightning Link.

The system 12 may also implement a Charm Book (shown in FIG. 16 ) Aguest's charm book is akin to their trophy room—it is a consolidation ofall of the charms they have earned so far (and all of the charms theyhave yet to earn as well). The charm book serves as a great tool forbragging rights.

Charm Creation & Rarity: The foundation of Non-Fungible Tokens is thatthey are non-replaceable, indivisible, and virtually impossible to betampered with. From the moment of their creation there is a finitenumber of that NFT, meaning they are not susceptible to inflation, whichessentially guarantees their value can only increase over time. Uponcreation, a first edition version of each Charm can be kept tostrategically implement to maximize each Charm's potential value. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 9 , the system 12 may generate Charmsseparated into five tiers of rarity that coincide with current BoardingPass status levels and correspond with their respective coloridentifiers. Strategic scarcity is fundamental to the Charm economy toensure incentives for all types of guests. A plethora of ‘Common’ Charmsare needed to ensure new guests receive several Charms shortly afterjoining. After acquiring several lower level Charms and completingquests and achievements, guests would begin to receive fewer Charms asthey become more scarce and sought after.

Earning Charms: The system 12 may be programmed to allow Charms to beobtained through a variety of methods shown in FIG. 10 .

The system 12 may also allow guests to earn Charms through Quests.Quests can be structured in a variety of ways, as shown in FIG. 11 .

Charm Scarcity: By ensuring the proper amount of scarcity of each Charm,the system 12 provides a vast spectrum of Charm value to ensure that noguest is priced out of the Charm Market. The Charm Market would be tiedto their Charm Account and managed on their mobile devices. This allowsguests to buy and sell Charms amongst themselves. Due to the finitenature of NFTs upon their creation, immediate scarcity may be created onEvent Charms. An example of this would be giving away a Legendary EventCharm for Chairman guests that play a certain amount at special event.If only 100 Charms are issued, there would never be another chance toearn that Charm, ensuring that those 100 Charms would be rare forperpetuity. To actively promote and incentivize guests to buy/sell asfrequently as possible, Quests that can only be completed by having acertain amount of buy/sell transactions completed may be used.

Charm Purchasing: In addition to earning and trading, guests can acquirecharms by purchasing them through a daily gift shop using patron loyaltypoints, e.g., Boarding Pass™ points (shown in FIGS. 15 and 35 ). Fivecharms would be available for purchase in the shop for a 24-hour windowbefore being rotated out for another set of five charms. By implementinga ‘last seen’ feature for each charm, demand may increase for charmsthat normally would not be heavily sought after. Newly minted casinocharm NFTs may also be dropped into the daily gift shop for purchase bycasino patrons via patron loyalty points.

Charm Visibility: One of the keys to STN Charms' success is being ableto tap into the psychology of ‘Keeping Up with the Joneses’. The morevisibility on the Charms, the more likely guests will view Charms as astatus symbol. This concept was effective for current loyalty programbut over time there has been a status level inflation and being aChairman does not provide the same sense of exclusivity as it used to.Some of the methods of promoting the social aspect of STN Charms throughCharm visibility are: Charm Activation Visible on Machine (shown inFIGS. 18 and 29 ); and RGB Bulb in Candle—Color of Charm (shown in FIG.18 ). By highlighting the ‘rarity’ of the guest's Charm through thecandle, the system 12 can provide better guest service to high endguests while also driving a sense of aspiration for guests that do nothave a Legendary Charm.

Guest Experience: The system 12 provides an enhanced guest experience bygenerating and displaying a User Interface to allow: Activating a charmon a slot machine; Buying/selling charms with another guest; and/orPurchasing charms from the daily shop.

The system 12 includes a Technical Architecture including: ServiceWindow/Banner; Guests' NFT Wallet; Trading Platform; and Shop Platform.

The system 12 may also display Charms associated with Table Games—Kingof the Hill. Just as different guests gravitate towards certain gamesand gametypes, their motivations are different as well as the variouslevers that may be used to entice these guests to play. In Table Games,the ‘keeping up with the Jones’ is largely regulated by table limits.There is also significantly less space to work with as far as displayingany form of charm display. For a variety of reasons, a ‘King of theHill’ style charm display is most likely the best path forward. Theguest at the table who is playing the highest level charm will ‘own’ thetable—every minute that the guest owns that table, they are earning luckpoints and/or increasing a luck value associated with their casino charmNFT. This will likely have a large impact on dead games that frequentlysit without a single guest on them (since any guest that hops on one ofthose tables would automatically ‘own’ the table). For example, as shownin FIG. 19 , the system 12 may display guest charms on table game limitsigns. In some embodiments, the system 12 may display an image of thehighest level casino charm NFT associated with a patron seated at atable game. In other embodiments, the system 12 may display a charmleader board on the table game display systems 27 showing a ranked listof casino charm NFTs associated the players seated at a gaming table.

Benefits

I. Reduce Guest Reinvestment: Using Boarding Pass Points as the currencyof STN Charms, significantly reduces point liability, and even haveguests purchasing Boarding Pass Points outright solely for the abilityto purchase a Charm that they desired.

II. Drive Incremental/Extended Play: Through various Quest completioncriteria or Event Charms, the system can drive extra trips from guests.Guests would also be exposed to new gaming areas they might nottypically visit.

III. Migrate Guests to Higher Hold Activity: Strategic Quest designwould incentivize guests to play games or place bets that has a higherhouse advantage than what they might typically play. As an example, aQuest might require a guest to hit a ‘Panda’ Baccarat side bet.

IV. Platform to Reach Younger Guests: The success of social gaming hasgiven clear indication of the value of micro-transactions. Guests aroundthe age of 21 are impaired more by their wallet than their time. Theymight be unable to come in and spend $200-$300 in a night, but are muchmore willing to spend $5-$10 to buy a charm or some othermicro-transaction. This is great method to introduce them to productsand get those guests in the database.

V. Enhanced Data Capture: The system 12 may see an increased number ofguests in the database through STN Charms, and benefit from enhanceddata capabilities. If guests utilizing the App on their mobile devicehave location services enabled, the system 12 will be able to trackguest locations as they move around the casino to offer greatly enhancedinsight into guest behavior. This would be a cost-free way to trackguests' non-gaming behavior as well.

VI. Increased, Unpaid Exposure of Casino Brand Via Social Channels: Aspart of the social aspect of STN Charms, many guests would likely postimages of a new charm they acquired. Certain Quests could also requiresocial media posts in order to be completed.

Technology: The STN Charms full functionality may include: Creation ofmobile device Application to manage Charms with digital wallet;Integration of NFT (Blockchain) into the service window and/or TFTdisplay on a slot machine; Integration of NFT (Blockchain) into thebanner on a slot machine; Implementation of a Charm Economy; SlotMachine Graphics reflecting chosen Charm; RGB Candle light speaking toCharm selection; Numerous graphics needed for creation of Charmgraphics, Charm Luck value graphics, and more: Establishing desiredscarcity; and Designing Quests.

Referring to FIGS. 8-12 , in one embodiment, the customer loyaltyprogram computer system 12 includes computer server having a processorprogrammed to execute algorithms 200-600 to display animated sequencesof computer generated images of casino charm NFTs 64 (shown in FIGS.27-40 ) on the display devices of gaming devices 20. For example, inmethod step 202, the processor 12 detects a loyalty member login requestat a gaming device 20. In some embodiments, the processor 12 may receivea loyalty club member login request signal from a player tracking server16 indicating a request from a patron to initiate a gaming session at acorresponding gaming device 20. For example, the player tracking server16 may detect the insertion of a player loyalty club card into a cardreader associated with an EGM 24 and receive a signal including a patronID that is read by from the player loyalty club card from the cardreader. In other embodiments, the player tracking server 16 may receivea login request from a player's mobile device 28 including a patron IDand/or a gaming device ID associated with a corresponding EGM 24. Theplayer tracking server 16 may also receive the login request from theEGM 24 including a patron ID wirelessly received by the EGM 24 from aplayer's mobile device 28.

In method step 204, upon receiving the loyalty club member login requestfrom the patron, the processor 12 queries the blockchain system 34 toidentify casino charm NFTs currently owned by the patron. For example,in some embodiments, the processor 12 may query the STN Charms smartcontract 46 to identify transitions stored in the blockchain system 34to identify casino charm NFTs 64 associated with the patron IDindicating ownership of the identified casino charm NFTs 64 by thepatron. In other embodiments, the processor 12 may query the custodialwallet 54 to identify casino charm NFTs 64 associated with the patron ID

In method step 206, the processor 12 queries the STN Charms smartcontract 46 to identify transitions stored in the blockchain system 34to identify casino charm NFTs 64 currently owned by the casino gamingentity (shown as “STN” in FIG. 12 ).

In method step 208, the processor 12 queries the charm content database60 to retrieve image data associated with identified casino charm NFTs64 owned by the patron using the STN Charms API 62. The processor 12 mayalso query the charm content database 60 to retrieve image dataassociated with identified casino charm NFTs 64 owned by the casinogaming entity.

In method step 210, the processor 12 uses the retrieved image data torender images of the casino charm NFTs 64 on a charm selection screens66 (shown in FIGS. 15-16 and 27-30 ) displayed on the correspondinggaming device 20. In some embodiments, the processor 12 may accesscasino charm NFT data files 68 (shown in FIG. 23 ) stored in database 60to retrieve additional information associated with the casino charm NFTs64. For example the casino charm NFT data files 68 may include aplurality of records associated with casino charm NFTs 64 including, butnot limited to, corresponding charm NFT ID, charm luck value, charmcategories, charm rarity, loyalty point purchase price, etc. Theprocessor 12 may then render the charm selection screens 66 to includeimages of the casino charm NFTs 64 including a category, a rarity,and/or a loyalty point purchase price. The processor 12 may also enablea patron to purchase casino charm NFTs 64 owned by the casino gamingentity using loyalty points via the charm selection screen 66.

In method step 212, the processor 12 receives a patron's selection of acasino charm NFTs 64 owned by the patron via the charm selection screen66 and renders the image of the selected casino charm NFTs 64 on a gamescreen 70 (shown in FIGS. 27-30 ) being displayed on the gaming device20. For example, the processor 12 may display the selected casino charmNFT 64 in the service window 56 of the gaming device 20.

FIG. 21 illustrates algorithm 700 that may be executed by the customerloyalty program computer system 12 to display an animated sequence ofcomputer-generated images of casino charm NFTs 64 on a display device ofa corresponding gaming device 20. The algorithm include a plurality ofsteps. Each algorithm step may be performed independently of, or incombination with, other method steps. Portions of the algorithms may beperformed by any one of, or any combination of, the components of thesystem 10. FIGS. 22-26 illustrate exemplary data files that may be usedby the customer loyalty program computer system when executing algorithm700.

In method step 702, a processor 12 receives a request to initiate agaming session by a loyalty member/player/patron at a correspondinggaming device. For example, in some embodiments, the processor 12 mayreceive a gaming session request from a player tracking server 16including a patron ID 74 read from a player loyalty club card or amobile device 28 and a gaming device ID associated with a correspondingEGM 24. Upon receiving the patron ID, the processor 12 may query thecasino management system server 14 to verify a patron account record 72(shown in FIG. 22 ) associated with the received patron ID 74 is storedin a patron account database managed by the casino management systemserver 14. Upon receiving a verification of an associated patron accountrecord 72, the customer loyalty program computer server may the initiatea gaming session at the corresponding EGM 24 and generate acorresponding gaming session record 76 (shown in FIG. 24 ).

In method step 704, the processor 12 queries the patron account databaseto determine a blockchain user account ID 78 associated with thereceived patron ID. For example, the processor 12 may query the casinomanagement system server 14 to retrieve the patron account record 72associated with the received patron ID and identify the blockchain useraccount ID 78 associated with the received patron ID.

In method step 706, upon receiving the identified blockchain useraccount ID 78 associated with the received patron ID, the processor 12then queries the blockchain system 34 to identify a casino charm NFT 64owned by the blockchain user account ID 78. For example, the processor12 may query the STN Charms smart contract 46 to identify transitionsstored in the blockchain system 34 to identify casino charm NFTs 64owned by the identified blockchain user account ID 78. The blockchainuser account ID 78 may include a blockchain wallet ID, Uniform ResourceIndicator (URI), or similar identification code, to identify a uniqueuser/owner on the blockchain system 34. In some embodiments, theblockchain user account ID 78 may include a private key that may be usedto facilitate transactions via the custodial wallet 54 to facilitatetransitions associated with the casino charm NFTs and/or verifyownership of casino charm NFTs.

In method step 708, the processor 12 queries the charms content database60 to retrieve object image data associated with the identified casinocharm NFT 64. For example, in some embodiments, the processor 12 mayquery the charm content database 60 using the STN Charms API 62 toretrieve object image data associated with the identified casino charmNFT 64. The charm content database 60 may include casino charm NFT datafiles 68 that include information associated with each casino charm NFT64 including, for example, a charm NFT ID 80 identifying the casinocharm NFT 64, object image data associated with a charm card image 82and a charm icon image 84 (shown in FIGS. 27, 30, and 31-33 ), aproduction number associate each casino charm NFT indicating a totalnumber of minted charm NFTs included in a class or category and theproduction number of the corresponding casino charm NFT with theclass/category, a wagering activity including total coin-out and/ortotal taxable jackpot amount, a luck level, and a bonus feature.

In some embodiments, the STN Charms smart contract 46 may mint eachcasino charm NFT 64 deployed to the blockchain ledger 44 to includemetadata associated with corresponding object image data, productionnumber, and/or luck level. For example, each STN Charms smart contract46 may mint each casino charm NFT 64 to include a Uniform ResourceIndicator (URI) that includes the corresponding charm NFT ID and pointsto corresponding information stored in the charm content database 60.For example, each casino charm NFT 64 may include a Uniform ResourceLocator (URL) including a web address for locating and retrievinginformation resources from the charm content database 60 includingobject image data, production number, and/or luck level associated withthe casino charm NFT 64. In some embodiments, when the processor 12queries the blockchain system 34 to identify a casino charm NFT 64 ownedby the blockchain user account ID 78, the processor 12 may then accessthe URI included with the identified casino charm NFT 64 and access thecorresponding object image data, production number, and/or luck levelfrom the charm content database 60 based on metadata included in theretrieved casino charm NFT 64.

In method step 710, the processor 12 renders a game screen 70 on thecorresponding EGM 24 including animated computer images of theidentified casino charm NFT 64. For example, in some embodiments, theprocessor 12 may use the server-based web application 58 to serve HTMLcontent to the EGM 24 to display the game screen 70 including a wageringgame (e.g., slot reels, video poker, etc.) and the service window 56being displayed on the EGM 24 (shown in FIGS. 27-30 ). The processor 12uses the server application 58 to query detailed content about thecasino charm NFTs 64 from the charm content database 60 using the STNCharms API 62. The charm image data 82 and 84 are downloaded from thecharm content database 60 over HTTPS through hyperlink URLs returned bythe STN Charms API 62 and used to render images associated with theidentified casino charm NFT 64 on the service window 56 displayed ionthe EGM 24. The processor 12 may also render the charm card image 82 ofthe casino charm NFT 64 on the service window 56 and render the charmicon image 84 of the casino charm NFT 64 overlaying a portion of thewagering game. In addition, during game play, the processor 12 mayremove the service window 56 from the game screen 70 to enable more ofthe EGM display to be used to display the wagering game while continuingto display the charm icon image 84 of the casino charm NFT 64 on thegame screen 70. By displaying an image of the casino charm NFT 64 on thegame screen 70, the player is notified that the wagering activityincurred during the gaming session is being associated with the casinocharm NFT 64 being displayed during the gaming session. In someembodiments, the charm icon image 84 may be displayed as an interactive3-dimensional image that is responsive to a player's touch input on thetouchscreen of the gaming device 20. For example, the charm card image82 and/or the charm icon image 84 may be rendered as an animatedGraphics Interchange Format (GIF) file, a Joint Photographic ExpertsGroup (JPEG) file, Portable Network Graphic (PNG) file, and the like,which may animate (e.g., a 3D image spinning) when touched by a patronvia the touchscreen.

The processor 12 may also implement the algorithm steps of querying theblockchain system 34 to verify the identified casino charm NFT 64 asoriginally owned by a casino gaming entity and rendering the image ofthe identified casino charm NFT 64 upon verifying the identified casinocharm NFT 64 as originally owned by a casino gaming entity. In this way,the processor 12 implements additional security measures to ensure thecasino charm NFT 64 being activated by the player was originallyowned/minted by the casino gaming entity.

In some embodiments, the processor 12 may be programmed to execute thealgorithm including the steps of querying the blockchain system 34 toidentify a plurality of casino charm NFTs owned by the blockchain useraccount ID 78, querying the charms content database 60 to retrieve imagedata associated with each of the plurality of casino charm NFTs owned bythe blockchain user account ID 78, and rendering a charm selectionscreens 66 (shown in FIGS. 28-30 ) on the corresponding EGM includingimages of each casino charm NFT 64. The processor 12 may then allow aplayer to activate a casino charm NFT 64 on the EGM by receiving aplayer selection of a casino charm NFT via the charm selection screen 66and rendering the game screen 70 on the corresponding EGM 24 includingan image of the player selected casino charm NFT 64. In someembodiments, the processor 12 may render charm card images 82 of theplayer selected casino charm NFT 64 on the charm selection screen 66 tonotify the player of the currently selected casino charm NFT 64. Theprocessor 12 may also render charm icon images 84 of the other casinocharm NFT 64 available for selection by the player, as shown in FIG. 29. Upon receiving the selection of casino charm NFT 64 by the player, theprocessor 12 activates the selected casino charm NFT 64 on the EGM andrenders the charm card image 82 of the casino charm NFT 64 on theservice window 56 and the charm icon image 84 of the casino charm NFT 64overlaying a portion of the wagering game to notify the player that thewagering activity incurred during the gaming session is being associatedwith the casino charm NFT 64.

The processor 12 may also implement steps to enhance security of thecasino charm NFTs 64 when rendering the charm selection screens 66 byquerying the blockchain system 34 to identify the plurality of casinocharm NFTs 64 owned by the blockchain user account ID 78 and queryingthe blockchain system 34 to verify each casino charm NFT 64 asoriginally owned by the casino gaming entity. The processor 12 may thenquery the charms content database 60 to retrieve object image dataassociated with each verified casino charm NFTs 64 owned by theblockchain user account ID 78 and render the charm selection screen 66on the corresponding EGM including images of each verified casino charmNFT 64. The processor 12 may then receive a player's selection of averified casino charm NFT 64 via the charm selection screen 66 andrender the game screen 70 on the corresponding EGM including an image ofthe player selected casino charm NFT 64.

In some embodiments, the processor 12 may determine a bonus featureassociated with the identified casino charm NFT 64 and initiate thedetermine bonus feature via the EGM 24. For example, in someembodiments, upon receiving the player's selection of the casino charmNFT 64, the processor 12 may query the casino charm NFT data files 68 todetermine a bonus feature associated with the player selected casinocharm NFT 64. The bonus feature may include, for example, an enhancedpaytable, an enhanced EGM lighting feature (e.g., modifying a color ofthe RGB Bulb in EGM candle, displaying a charm on a table game display,a bonus game, and/or similar enhancements to game play and/orvisual/audio displays associated with the gaming device 20. For example,as shown in FIG. 30 , upon receiving the player's selection of thecasino charm NFT 64, the processor 12 may initiate a bonus feature 86including an adjustment to the base paytable/return to player (RTP) forthe wagering game being played on the EGM 24 such as, for example,modifying a video poker paytable 88, such as changing a Full Housepayout from 35→40 credits (at 5 credits). In addition, having certaincasino charm NFTs 64 active would adjust a reward/bonus/RTP via asecondary game such as, for example, unlock a bonus game like the Wheelof Fortune™ which was separate from the base game. In some embodiments,certain casino charms NFTs 64 that are associate with certain categoriesof Charms that would kick off a bonus event. For example, a certainCharm category would increase a video poker paytable. A full house mightpay 35 credits with no Charm active, 36 credits with that category'scommon charm active, 37 with uncommon charm active, and 40 credits withthe Legendary Charm active. Another example might be during a VGK™ gameif a VGK™ Charm is active during a gaming session, the processor 12 mayrender a random hockey themed bonus game on the EGM 24.

In method step 712, the processor 12 associates the gaming session withthe displayed casino charm NFT 64, monitors wagering activity occurringduring the gaming session, and updates the charm content database 60 tomodify casino charm NFT data files 68 associated with the displayedcasino charm NFT 64 to include the monitored wagering activity. Thewagering activity may include any activity conducted by the gamingdevice such as, for example, wagers placed/received, loyalty pointsused, games played, bonuses initiated and/or awarded, quest events suchas hitting a Royal Flush or taxable jackpot, and the like. For example,in some embodiments, the processor 12 may initiate the gaming session bygenerating a unique gaming session record 76 (shown in FIG. 24 )associated with the gaming session and associating the identified casinocharm NFT 64 with the unique gaming session record 76. The gamingsession record 76 may include the patron ID, date/time stamp, device IDidentifying the EGM, property ID identifying the casino property inwhich the EGM is located, wagering activity and the charm NFT ID 80identifying the casino charm NFT 64 activated during the gaming session.The processor 12 then monitors wagering activity conducted via thecorresponding EGM during the gaming session and updates the charmscontent database 60 to include the monitored wagering activityconducting during the gaming session associated with the identifiedcasino charm NFT. In some embodiments, the player tracking server 16 maymonitor waging activity occurring during the gaming session andassociate the monitored wagering activity with the casino charm NFT 64being displayed on the game screen 70. The player tracking server 16 maythen send information associated with the gaming session including thewaging activity that occurred when the casino charm NFT 64 was displayedon the game screen 70 to the customer loyalty program computer server12, which then updates the casino charm NFT data files 68 associatedwith the displayed casino charm NFT 64 to include the monitored wageringactivity. In this way, the customer loyalty program computer server 12monitors wagering activity that incurs when specific casino charm NFTsare displayed on the EGMs 24.

In method step 714, the processor 12 awards additional casino charm NFTs64 to the player based on wagering activity occurring during the gamingsession or cumulative wagering activities being performed by the player.For example, during the gaming session, the processor 12 may executealgorithms 300-500 (shown in FIGS. 9-11 ) and query a charm award datafile 90 (shown in FIG. 25 ) to determine whether additional casino charmNFTs 64 should be awarded to the player based on monitored wageringactivity. For example, charm award data file 90 may include informationassociated with a variety of wagering activities 92 that may beperformed by players/patrons and associated casino charm NFTs 64 thatmay be awarded if the corresponding wagering activity 92 is achieved bythe player. Upon determining that the corresponding wagering activity 92has been achieved by the player, the processor 12 may query the STNCharms smart contract 46 to initiate a transaction transferringownership of the awarded casino charm NFT 64 from the casino gamingentity to the player and record the transaction on the blockchain ledger44.

In the illustrated embodiment, the processor 12 is also programmed toexecute the algorithm including the steps of determining a charm luckvalue 94 associated with the identified casino charm NFT 64 andrendering the images 82, 84 of the identified casino charm NFT 64including the charm luck value 94. For example, the processor 12 mayquery the charms content database 60 including the casino charm NFT datafiles 68 to retrieve the charm luck value 94 associated with theidentified casino charm NFT 64 and rendering the images 82, 84 of theidentified casino charm NFT 64 including the retrieved charm luck value94. In addition, when rendering the charm selection screen 66, theprocessor 12 may query the casino charm NFT data files 68 to retrievethe charm luck value 94 associated with each casino charm NFT 64 ownedby the player and display each casino charm NFT 64 with thecorresponding charm luck value 94 on the charm selection screen 66. Inthis way, the player is notified of the charm luck value 94 associatedwith each casino charm NFT 64 prior to making a selection.

In some embodiments, the processor 12 may also determine the charm luckvalue 94 based on the wagering activity associated with a correspondingcasino charm NFT 64. The processor 12 may query the charms contentdatabase 60 including the casino charm NFT data files 68 to retrievewagering activity associated with the identified casino charm NFT 64 anddetermine the charm luck value 94 based on the wagering activityassociated with the identified casino charm NFT 64. For example, theprocessor 12 may query the charms content database 60 to retrieve atotal coin-out amount associated with the identified casino charm NFT 64and determine the charm luck value 94 based on the total coin-out amountassociated with the identified casino charm NFT 64. The processor 12 mayalso query the charms content database 60 to determine a taxable jackpotamount associated with the identified casino charm NFT 64 and determinethe charm luck value 94 based on the total coin-out amount and thetaxable jackpot amount (e.g., $1,200 or more) associated with theidentified casino charm NFT 64.

In some embodiments, the processor 12 may determine the charm luck valueby querying a charm luck data file 96 being stored in the charms contentdatabase 60 including a plurality of ranked charm luck levels 98 witheach ranked charm luck level 98 including a total luck value 100. Theprocessor 12 then identifies a highest ranked charm luck level 98 havinga corresponding total luck value 100 equal to or less than a sum of thetotal coin-out amount and the taxable jackpot amount associated with theidentified casino charm NFT 64 and displays the determined charm luckvalue 94 including the identified highest ranked charm luck level 98.

For example, the processor 12 may generate the charm luck data file 96including each ranked charm luck level 98 including a correspondingnumeric luck level value 98, a corresponding total luck value 100, aluck-to-next-level (LNLv) value 102, and a multiplier value 104. Themultiplier value is determined based on the corresponding numeric luckvalue. The LNLv value is determined based on the multiplier value. Thecorresponding total luck value is determined as a sum of LNLv valuesassociated with each lower ranked charm luck level 98. In someembodiments, the processor 12 calculates the multiplier value using thefollowing equation:

M=e ^(1+0.045x)  Equation 1:

wherein:M=the multiplier value;x=the corresponding numeric luck value associated with the correspondingluck level.

The processor 12 may also calculate the corresponding LNLv value usingthe following equation:

LNLv=P*(1+((1/M)*2.2277))  Equation 2:

wherein:LNLv=the corresponding LNLv value associated with the corresponding lucklevel;P=a previous LNLv value associated with a next lower luck level; andM=the multiplier value associated with the corresponding luck level.

In some embodiments, the processor 12 may also execute theadministration application 48 to render a charms marketplace interfacescreen 106 on gaming devices 20 to allow patrons to sell charms thatthey own, or buy charms from other members. As the Loyalty Members playgames or make use of other services provided by Station Casinos and earnpoints, other systems will use the STN Charms smart contract to awardearned points to members/patrons/players. For example, the processor 12may render the charms marketplace interface screen 106 and implementalgorithms 800 and 900 (shown in FIGS. 39 and 40 ) to enablemembers/patrons/players to buy and/or sell casino charm NFTs 64.

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention may be embodied asan apparatus, method, or computer program product. Accordingly, thepresent invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment,an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software,micro-code, etc.), or an embodiment combining software and hardwareaspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “module” or“system.” Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in any tangible media of expressionhaving computer-usable program code embodied in the media.

Any combination of one or more computer-usable or computer-readablemedia (or medium) may be utilized. For example, a computer-readablemedia may include one or more of a portable computer diskette, a harddisk, a random access memory (RAM) device, a read-only memory (ROM)device, an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory) device, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), anoptical storage device, and a magnetic storage device. Computer programcode for carrying out operations of the present invention may be writtenin any combination of one or more programming languages.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the flow diagrams illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations,and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustrations, may be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions. These computerprogram instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable mediathat can direct a computer or other programmable data processingapparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructionsstored in the computer-readable media produce an article of manufactureincluding instruction means which implement the function/act specifiedin the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Several (or different) elements discussed herein, and/or claimed, aredescribed as being “coupled”, “in communication with”, or “configured tobe in communication with”. This terminology is intended to benon-limiting, and where appropriate, be interpreted to include withoutlimitation, wired and wireless communication using any one or aplurality of a suitable protocols, as well as communication methods thatare constantly maintained, are made on a periodic basis, and/or made orinitiated on an as needed basis. The term “coupled” means any suitablecommunications link, including but not limited to the Internet, a LAN, acellular network, or any suitable communications link. Thecommunications link may include one or more of a wired and wirelessconnection and may be always connected, connected on a periodic basis,and/or connected on an as needed basis.

A controller, computing device, server or computer, such as describedherein, includes at least one or more processors or processing units anda system memory (see above). The controller typically also includes atleast some form of computer readable media. By way of example and notlimitation, computer readable media may include computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media may include volatile andnonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any methodor technology that enables storage of information, such as computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.Communication media typically embody computer readable instructions,data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated datasignal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includeany information delivery media. Those skilled in the art should befamiliar with the modulated data signal, which has one or more of itscharacteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode informationin the signal. Combinations of any of the above are also included withinthe scope of computer readable media.

The order of execution or performance of the operations in theembodiments of the invention illustrated and described herein is notessential, unless otherwise specified. That is, the operations describedherein may be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified, andembodiments of the invention may include additional or fewer operationsthan those disclosed herein. For example, it is contemplated thatexecuting or performing a particular operation before, contemporaneouslywith, or after another operation is within the scope of aspects of theinvention.

In some embodiments, a processor, as described herein, includes anyprogrammable system including systems and microcontrollers, reducedinstruction set circuits (RISC), application specific integratedcircuits (ASIC), programmable logic circuits (PLC), and any othercircuit or processor capable of executing the functions describedherein. The above examples are exemplary only, and thus are not intendedto limit in any way the definition and/or meaning of the term processor.

In some embodiments, a database, as described herein, includes anycollection of data including hierarchical databases, relationaldatabases, flat file databases, object-relational databases, objectoriented databases, and any other structured collection of records ordata that is stored in a computer system. The above examples areexemplary only, and thus are not intended to limit in any way thedefinition and/or meaning of the term database. Examples of databasesinclude, but are not limited to only including, MongoDB™ databaseengines which is a document storage solution, Oracle® Database, MySQL,IBM® Db2, Microsoft® SQL Server, Sybase®, and PostgreSQL. However, anydatabase may be used that enables the systems and methods describedherein. (Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation, RedwoodShores, Calif.; IBM is a registered trademark of International BusinessMachines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.; Microsoft is a registered trademarkof Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.; and Sybase is a registeredtrademark of Sybase, Dublin, Calif.)

The above description of illustrated examples of the present invention,are not intended to be exhaustive or to be limitation to the preciseforms disclosed. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, theinvention are described herein for illustrative purposes, variousequivalent modifications are possible without departing from the broaderspirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A networked computer system for displaying imagesassociated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on electronic gaming machines(EGMs), comprising: a computer server coupled to a plurality of EGMslocated within a casino property, the computer server including aprocessor programmed to execute an algorithm to display an animatedsequence of computer-generated images on a display device of acorresponding EGM including the steps of: receiving a request toinitiate a gaming session at the corresponding EGM, the requestincluding a patron ID; querying a patron account database to determine ablockchain user account ID associated with the received patron ID;querying a blockchain system to identify a casino charm NFT owned by theblockchain user account ID; querying a charms content database toretrieve image data associated with the identified casino charm NFT; andrendering an image of the identified casino charm NFT on a game screendisplayed on the corresponding EGM.
 2. The networked computer system ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to execute the algorithmincluding the steps of: querying the blockchain system to identify aplurality of casino charm NFTs owned by the blockchain user account ID;querying the charms content database to retrieve image data associatedwith each of the plurality of casino charm NFTs owned by the blockchainuser account ID; rendering a charm selection screen on the correspondingEGM including images of each casino charm NFT; receiving a playerselection of a casino charm NFT via the charm selection screen; andrendering an image of the player selected casino charm NFT on the gamescreen displayed on the corresponding EGM.
 3. The networked computersystem of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to execute thealgorithm including the steps of: determining a charm luck valueassociated with the identified casino charm NFT; and rendering the imageof the identified casino charm NFT including the charm luck value. 4.The networked computer system of claim 3, wherein the processor isprogrammed to execute the algorithm including the steps of: querying thecharms content database to retrieve wagering activity associated withthe identified casino charm NFT; and determining the charm luck valuebased on the wagering activity associated with the identified casinocharm NFT.
 5. The networked computer system of claim 4, wherein theprocessor is programmed to execute the algorithm including the steps of:initiating the gaming session by generating a unique gaming sessionrecord associated with the gaming session and associating the identifiedcasino charm NFT with the unique gaming session record; monitoringwagering activity conducted via the corresponding EGM during the gamingsession; and updating the charms content database to include themonitored wagering activity conducting during the gaming sessionassociated with the identified casino charm NFT.
 6. The networkedcomputer system of claim 4, wherein the processor is programmed toexecute the algorithm including the steps of: querying the charmscontent database to retrieve a total coin-out amount associated with theidentified casino charm NFT; and determining the charm luck value basedon the total coin-out amount associated with the identified casino charmNFT.
 7. The networked computer system of claim 6, wherein the processoris programmed to execute the algorithm including the steps of: queryingthe charms content database to determine a taxable jackpot amountassociated with the identified casino charm NFT; and determining thecharm luck value based on the total coin-out amount and the taxablejackpot amount associated with the identified casino charm NFT.
 8. Thenetworked computer system of claim 7, wherein the processor isprogrammed to execute the algorithm including the steps of: determiningthe charm luck value by: querying a charm luck data file including aplurality of ranked charm luck levels, each ranked charm luck levelincluding a total luck value; identifying a highest ranked charm lucklevel having a corresponding total luck value equal to or less than asum of the total coin-out amount and the taxable jackpot amountassociated with the identified casino charm NFT; and displaying thedetermined charm luck value including the identified highest rankedcharm luck level.
 9. The networked computer system of claim 8, whereinthe processor is programmed to execute the algorithm including the stepsof: generating the charm luck data file including each ranked charm lucklevel including a corresponding numeric luck level value, acorresponding total luck value, a luck-to-next-level (LNLv) value, and amultiplier value; wherein the multiplier value is determined based onthe corresponding numeric luck value; wherein the LNLv value isdetermined based on the multiplier value; and wherein the correspondingtotal luck value is determined as a sum of LNLv values associated witheach lower ranked luck level.
 10. The networked computer system of claim9, wherein the processor is programmed to execute the algorithmincluding the steps of: calculating the multiplier value using:M=e ^(1+0.045x) wherein: M=the multiplier value: x=the correspondingnumeric luck value associated with the corresponding luck level.
 11. Thenetworked computer system of claim 10, wherein the processor isprogrammed to execute the algorithm including the steps of: calculatinga corresponding LNLv value using:LNLv=P*(1+((1/M)*2.2277)) wherein: LNLv=the corresponding LNLv valueassociated with the corresponding luck level; P=a previous LNLv valueassociated with a next lower luck level; and M=the multiplier valueassociated with the corresponding luck level.
 12. The networked computersystem of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to execute thealgorithm including the steps of: querying the blockchain system toverify the identified casino charm NFT as originally owned by a casinogaming entity; and rendering the image of the identified casino charmNFT upon verifying the identified casino charm NFT as originally ownedby a casino gaming entity.
 13. The networked computer system of claim 1,wherein the processor is programmed to execute the algorithm includingthe steps of: determining a bonus feature associated with the identifiedcasino charm NFT; and initiating the determine bonus feature via theEGM.
 14. A method of operating a networked computer system fordisplaying images associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) onelectronic gaming machines (EGMs), the networked computer systemincluding a computer server including a processor coupled to a pluralityof EGMs located within a casino property, the method including theprocessor performing an algorithm to display an animated sequence ofcomputer-generated images on a display device of a corresponding EGMincluding the steps of: receiving a request to initiate a gaming sessionat the corresponding EGM, the request including a patron ID; querying apatron account database to determine a blockchain user account IDassociated with the received patron ID; querying a blockchain system toidentify a casino charm NFT owned by the blockchain user account ID;querying a charms content database to retrieve image data associatedwith the identified casino charm NFT; and rendering an image of theidentified casino charm NFT on a game screen displayed on thecorresponding EGM.
 15. The method of claim 14, including the processorperforming the algorithm including the steps of: querying the blockchainsystem to identify a plurality of casino charm NFTs owned by theblockchain user account ID; querying the charms content database toretrieve image data associated with each of the plurality of casinocharm NFTs owned by the blockchain user account ID: rendering a charmselection screen on the corresponding EGM including images of eachcasino charm NFT; receiving a player selection of a casino charm NFT viathe charm selection screen; and rendering an image of the playerselected casino charm NFT on the game screen displayed on thecorresponding EGM.
 16. The method of claim 14, including the processorperforming the algorithm including the steps of: determining a charmluck value associated with the identified casino charm NFT; andrendering the image of the identified casino charm NFT including thecharm luck value.
 17. The method of claim 16, including the processorperforming the algorithm including the steps of: querying the charmscontent database to retrieve wagering activity associated with theidentified casino charm NFT; and determining the charm luck value basedon the wagering activity associated with the identified casino charmNFT.
 18. The method of claim 14, including the processor performing thealgorithm including the steps of: initiating the gaming session bygenerating a unique gaming session record associated with the gamingsession and associating the identified casino charm NFT with the uniquegaming session record; monitoring wagering activity conducted via thecorresponding EGM during the gaming session; and updating the charmscontent database to include the monitored wagering activity conductingduring the gaming session associated with the identified casino charmNFT.
 19. The method of claim 14, including the processor performing thealgorithm including the steps of: querying the charms content databaseto retrieve a total coin-out amount associated with the identifiedcasino charm NFT; and determining the charm luck value based on thetotal coin-out amount associated with the identified casino charm NFT.20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-executable instructions embodied thereon to operate a networkedcomputer system for displaying images associated with non-fungibletokens (NFTs) on electronic gaming machines (EGMs), the networkedcomputer system including a computer server including a processorcoupled to a plurality of EGMs located within a casino property, whenexecuted by the processor the computer-executable instructions cause theprocessor to perform an algorithm to display an animated sequence ofcomputer-generated images on a display device of a corresponding EGMincluding the steps of: receiving a request to initiate a gaming sessionat the corresponding EGM, the request including a patron ID; querying apatron account database to determine a blockchain user account IDassociated with the received patron ID; querying a blockchain system toidentify a casino charm NFT owned by the blockchain user account ID;querying a charms content database to retrieve image data associatedwith the identified casino charm NFT; and rendering an image of theidentified casino charm NFT on a game screen displayed on thecorresponding EGM.